Mercury is neutral planet that takes on the qualities of whatever it touches. While Mercury is in Taurus, it will make a set of two trines to both Jupiter and Pluto, because it is preparing for its retrograde cycle. As Mercury creates its harmonious alignments with these planets, the effects will be observed in or influenced by events in the material world as Mercury is in earth sign Taurus.
With Mercury in Taurus, the intellect acquires a steadiness. Thinking is slow and languorous, retentive and deliberate. The mind affixes itself on a topic, task, or problem for an extended period of time with all the intensity of a focused bull.
Taurus is a sign that has to do with appetite – feasting on a full experience of every sense, the feel of soft cashmere pullover to the taste of creamy stuffed pastry. The quality of savoring implies enjoyment, and that is experience we have access to now as the heavens are compelling us to slow down and and process the world through the Taurean lens.
With much of the past coming up for review it would be wise to answer the call of slowing down because there is so much that wants our full, focused, intense attention now.
Slowing down does not necessarily mean a descension in rate of speed, but rather an ability to drink in experience with the senses fully turned on. Appreciation is accompanied by lingering.
That may mean that giving full attention to the deepening of a project supplies the intellect with pleasure. Or that allowing the natural unfolding of events gives way to a deeper organizing intelligence to move the material world.
Or, that deepening into an exploration of what from the past is now arising,
what new strategy wishes to be formulated,
or what re-consideration needs a more patient approach – feels more natural and right than the blazing pursuit we might wish to carry on as if Mars was not stationing on the 17th.
Mercury applies more weight than is already signified elsewhere in the skies to the subject of sense pleasure, appetite, and desire. But whereas Mars’ station retrograde and eventual return to degrees of the zodiac it’s already passed, back into the waters of Scorpio may indicate a controlled approach satiating the appetites, Mercury in Taurus is supported in exploring all the meeting places of what feels good. Especially on the cerebral plane, via means of communication.
As I write this Mercury is applying to perfect a trine to a stationed Pluto, preparing to go retrograde as well, something it will do twice more in the coming thirty days, as Mercury goes through its the retrograde cycle.
This aspect may indicate that the mind is overwhelmed by the force of power of material considerations. There may be a felt forceful desire to gut and regenerate some part of the material world. It’s important to underline that this Mercury uses the material world as its logical basis. It considers the requirements to meet the physical needs as a starting point. It considers what will offer an experience of pleasure. Logic and persuasion are tinged with grace, and the gentle coaxing of proffering pleasure as a negotiation gambit.
Mercury and Pluto together in another expression can be understood in terms of signs perceived in the natural world. This is the bird call heard on a long walk that catches the attention and evokes inquiry into its deeper meaning. A spider’s web draped between tree trunks where before there was clear passage. An orange found growing within an orange before receiving news of a pregnancy.*
A danger with this languorous Mercury and potent Mars combination in the sky is bludgeoning the receptivity of the senses by over doing it. Too much force. Too much of a good thing. Thinking of only the material end-game, the pleasure proffered, the ground covered, without the judiciousness of more thorough reasoning. On this point it may be wise to mull over the consideration of preservation of appetite and the virtue of fasting to heighten the senses, and access alternative intellectual heights. In the coming months, Mercury’s stations and approaches to trines to Jupiter and Pluto may be a more naturally fruitful time for an orgiastic blowout.
Naturally,
Ichrak
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*idea from a Geoffrey Cornelius lecture referencing a horary chart in NYC March 2014
images:
Sandro Botticelli. Primavera. 1482
Hans Memling. Diptych of Saint John and Saint Veronica. 1483
Sidi Saiyyed Mosque detail. India 1573. Photo by Vrajesh jani
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More on the intensity of Taurus: Full Moon in Taurus 2015
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The astrology of Spring 2016 – Spring 2017
